Trust No One
by snicket.handler
Summary: When the team's last hope to solve a case is a little girl, Lisbon will face some of her own ghosts. Multi-chapter. Takes place right after 4x15. Jisbon friendship, but who knows...
1. Safe

**AN: So, I finally did it! I finally started to write for real and I'm more excited than I should. I just wanted to say that I'm new here and this is my first story ever. I hope you'll give it a try. Btw, English is not my first language, so a very special person helped me and beta-ed this fic. Thank you, liv einziger, thank you so much!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Nina and her parents.**

CHAPTER 1 - Safe

Nina Dobrev had had a regular day. Her father had taken her to school while her mother had gone to her yoga classes. Routine felt good for the little girl. At night, everything seemed to be just fine.

Her father, Anthony, wasn't the most present one, due to his job as an international lawyer, but he and his wife Judith had built a comfy and cozy nest to witness the growth of their family.

They were both tall and athletic. He had green eyes and short black hair. She was a brunette, with deep brown eyes. Anthony always said that his wife could read right through people's souls with them. When they got married, they were madly in love. The only thing that they wanted was to spend the rest of their lives with each other.

From these genetic lottery winners and their love, Nina was born. She was planned and eagerly awaited by her parents. She had inherited not only their beauty, but also their intelligence.

Although his presence at home wasn't the best, Anthony was promoted at work very often, since his dedication became notable to the company he worked for. He had now been working on a case involving powerful people and a lot of money. For the sake of the family, he began to hide some secrets, considered unimportant by him. As he was providing food and comfort for his wife and child, he thought that everything would eventually be okay.

However, at the same time, Judith started to cultivate some fears. Those were the main cause of tension between her and her husband, especially after she and her daughter had been threatened on the street right after Nina's school time.

With her father's case going deeper everyday, Nina's safe nest was in jeopardy. Not that she was really aware of that fact. As the four-year-old she was, everything looked like fairy tales and the happily ever after did exist. The three of them seemed to be living in a sort of cage now, but she imagined herself to be in Rapunzel's castle and whoever was threatening her family was the evil witch. It was this witch that she imagined to be on the phone, every now and then when it rang, full of rage and bad intentions.

And what felt like a normal day, and even a good one, was actually going to be a decisive day. The day when her parents, because of another fight, would forget to set the alarm on before going to sleep. The day when she would learn the "don't trust anyone" lesson in the hardest way. And also the day she would, instinctively, erase from her memory.

* * *

><p>If anyone from the CBI team stepped into the room 451 of the Skyniard Hotel that night, he (or she) would immediately blush. Teresa Lisbon had had a horrible day, following Jane around, like she was his puppy, and trying to put some wisdom in his head while he insisted in 'using' Erica for the case. She was not a fool and decided that she would stop playing cool when she was treated like one. Patrick Jane could go screw himself right now. She never thought that fate could make it up to her just in time. Especially when she wasn't looking for that much fun.<p>

Moans and gasps filled the space to where Teresa was taken by her lover.

"Hmm…" She moaned while his mouth travelled through her body. "Who knew that a Heineken drinker could be so good…"

The guy chuckled. She had to admit that the thought crossed her mind when she spotted him at the bar. _That would do for a one night stand…_ she thought, without the knowledge that her wishes could be heard by the responsible for watching over her from the 'sky'.

And when the hot ginger approached her with a beer in hand, she barely hesitated. Well, what could she say? The almighty agent Lisbon had her wild side in need of an adventure.

But something got in the way of her relaxing plans for the night ahead, as usual.

"Ahm, I hate to say this, but your phone is vibrating, I guess." He said between soft kisses on her neck.

"Oh God, what now?" She reached for it and looked at the screen. Her hair was messy and her shirt hanged unbuttoned from her shoulders. "Cho… It's from work, I have to get it." She explained.

He raised his hands, letting her free to do what she had to.

"Hey Cho, what's up?" Her voice was husky and strong.

"Hi boss. Sorry about the time." She looked at the clock: 3:40 AM. "We have a double murder, an attempt of fire and a missing child at Carlisle Road, number 54. We're all here already and the cops are taking notes."

"Thanks Cho, 'be there in a sec." She hung up and turned to her object of desire that was next to her, taking up from the point he had stopped, nuzzling her left ear and neck. "Hmm, I'm sorry… I gotta go…"

"Sure, babe?" His voice sounded hoarse. He was, indeed, handsome.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She went apart from him and put a hand on his chin, kissing him delicately on the lips. "Sorry." She started to button her shirt. "Guess we'll see each other around, someday, Peter."

"It's Rick…"

"That's what I said." She smirked, while passing her fingers through her hair, trying to make it look better without too much work. "Bye, Rick."

* * *

><p>The ride to the crime scene only lasted fifteen minutes, but tiredness was winning her over. If she still were at the hotel, she was pretty sure that she wouldn't be sleeping. But right now, at four in the morning, ready to deal with broken hearts, angry cops and opportunists, all she wanted to do was drink a little bit of coffee, in exchange for a sleepless night. She got out of the car and took a look around.<p>

The house where she was supposed to go was in a sort of pre-burned state. She wondered if the people who lived in there deserved it. _Probably not. _She thought. If there was one thing she had learned from her work, it was that murderers always exaggerated in their ways. Victims never had a real, concrete, reason to be killed but ended up dead anyway. There were police cars' lights everywhere and the sirens made her flinch with headache. She took a deep breath before walking into the light's direction.

"Boss!" Grace shouted, filled with relief, while walking towards her. Rigsby and Cho came right after.

"Hi Grace, what have you got?"

"The man's name was Anthony Dobrev and his wife's, Judith. They've been married for the past six years and had a daughter."

"According to the neighbors, they had a very normal life." Rigsby continued.

"Not so normal, as we can see it… And the girl is missing?" Lisbon said, glancing at the woods, behind the house.

"Yes. Jane's inside the house. According to him, she was a dreamy six-year-old girl. 'Very imaginative' he said.

"Yeah… Well, let's take a look at those bodies first." She said, getting inside the house, along with the team.

The interior wasn't as destroyed as she thought. The furniture was intact, except for the bookshelves near the window. Everything was neat and organized. It didn't look like a house with a child, at all. If she didn't know that there had been a murder, she would have thought that a very rich and happy family lived there. She stood still, just observing, until Jane's arrival.

"I know what you're thinking." He came closer. "Why such a lovely family was killed this way? Right?"

"Wrong. Actually, I'm thinking about where am I going to find these bodies and the motive behind everything." She replied coldly. "What have you found out upstairs?"

"Nothing special. I already told Van Pelt about the little girl and that was basically what I was looking for: facts about her. About where might she be hiding."

"Hiding? Don't you consider a possibility of abduction?"

"Highly unlikely. The girl was intelligent. Fairytale intelligence, I have to say, but intelligent. The window that she escaped through was wide open. She might have jumped as soon as she heard the gunshots. By the way, the victims are right over there, in the kitchen."

She went to see them. Anthony was in the entrance, with three shots on the chest and one on the leg. Lisbon knelt down to examine him better. The first thing she noticed, and that scared her a little, was how much the man reminded her of her father. The traces of the face: mouth, nose. Everything inhim screamed Samuel Lisbon. Teresa trembled and got away from the body, quickly, walking towards Judith. She had just two shots on the chest. "They weren't expecting anything." It hit her.

"No." She looked at him. "They never do." He stated, staring at her, intently. Something about Lisbon wasn't normal. A little tired, maybe?

"They were probably gathering up to sleep, when the killer broke into."

"And they forgot to turn on the alarm." Jane said, pointing to the small device at the wall next to the door. Lisbon turned her head at it.

"Boss, we should look for the girl, if you think she's out there." Cho interrupted. "Here with the dead ones we're not going to get anything."

"You're right. I have a hunch about where she might be."

"The woods." She and Jane spoke together. The team had to hold a laugh.

"Okay. Van Pelt, Cho and Rigsby, you go through the right side of the house while I go with Jane through the left one. Don't go in too deep. It's a six-year-old we're talking about, if she's around, she wouldn't have gone very far. Just enough to hide herself." _And enough to feel safe. _She added mentally, while she waited for the police to take both of the victims and zip their bodies into the black bags.

**AN: If you read everything, can you pleeeease leave me a review? *-***


	2. Unprofessional

**AN: Hey guys, how are you doing? :) I just wanna thank _the-megtalist_; _Eldanar_ and _Bruna_ for the reviews, you made my day! *-* Also, a big thank you for _nic73_ and _3R1N145_, who alerted and favorited this story, respectively. And_ liv einziger_, I can't thank you enough. **

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own them, only Nina. :D**

CHAPTER 2 - Unprofessional

The team had started their search the way it was supposed to be. They used flashlights and carried their guns, just in case. They didn't know what they would find, whether Nina was being held as a captive or not. The only thing they had was Jane's hunch. Not that it was a small thing, but they couldn't take anything for granted. As the delicate situation it was, they had to be sure that nothing could go wrong. Lisbon told the rest of the team to call her immediately if they saw something. Splitting up was a good solution for this kind of job, but it had its consequences.

The trees blocked the light coming from the moon, which made the woods especially dark and gloomy. Jane held his attention on Lisbon, and at the same time he was trying to process every noise and movement he could notice between the foliage.

"What is it, Jane? I can feel your eyes penetrating on me like a sting."

"Nothing. You're just… You have a different facial expression today. I can't figure it out and that's puzzling me." She grinned at his words and her mind flew back to what she was doing before her cellphone rang and brought her to this weird case. "You look slightly drunk, even though you don't smell like one, but also tired and happy…"

"Well I might just be and by the way, it's none of your business." She hissed. "You didn't seem to be that interested in what I did, or looked like, yesterday or the day before. And I really don't give a damn, I'm glad you found yourself some distraction."

"Oh, please Lisbon, you don't need to be jealous here…"

"I'm not jealous. Like I said, I don't care and maybe you should stop caring so much about my life_._"

He was about to say something when their little rant was immediately interrupted by Lisbon's perception of a small hand coming from behind a tree. Both of them approached the body carefully and found out that it was indeed Nina, fainted on a bunch of leaves. Although she was exactly where they thought she would be, waiting for an unconscious kid to wake up wasn't in their plans. The girl was faced down, her hair was messy and, probably due to her sweat and tears, sticky against her face.

"It looks like she's just fallen down… And there's no sign of sexual abuse." The agent crouched down and put a hand on the child's back. "Her breathing is still uneven, fast. Think you can call the paramedics? I'm gonna call Cho and tell him that we found her." Lisbon looked at him.

"Sure." Jane shrugged. "I'll be right back."

"Okay." She said, while dialing Cho's number. "Cho?"

"Hi, boss."

"We found her. She's fainted in the middle of this…" She took a look around. "Nowhere… I sent Jane to call the paramedics. You and the team can go back to the front of the house."

"Alright, bye." He hung up and looked at Van Pelt's and Rigsby's curious faces. "It was boss. She said they'd found Nina but she's not responsive."

"And what are we going to do?" Grace asked. "How are we going to interview her? I mean, we don't have a clue about what happened…"

"She sent Jane to call the paramedics. They must be on their way. We are going back to the house."

"I knew I should've brought some food. I hate trees and darkness and walking…" Rigsby grumbled and followed the other two agents, waving his hand in the air, from time to time, to send the insects away.

Lisbon leaned against the tree and sat next to the girl, looking at her, attentively. She was dressed in pajamas and it was covered in dirt and blood. She couldn't help but imagine Nina hugging her dead parents and then trying to run away from their killer. The woman felt the urge to turn Nina face up but resisted. Even though she was dying to see the child's face, she might've sprained something when she fell and Lisbon didn't want to cause any sort of pain for the little girl. Not more than she would have to already. So, instead, she just ran her fingers through Nina's hair, trying to take them away from her face. She was asleep, hurt and dirty and the agent couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

Footsteps began to be heard and Teresa got up. The paramedics were carrying a stretcher and, as soon as they got there, the kid was immobilized and taken away.

* * *

><p>The walk back to the front of the house was quiet. Jane and Lisbon could only hear the strong breathing and the dry leaves being stepped on. He wondered if Nina knew about her parents. If she had gone out the windows upstairs, without seeing anything, she wouldn't know and the team would have the sad and hard job to tell her. If she had seen it, she would have to explain how she had gotten out and say if she'd seen anything or anyone. <em>In both ways the girl will feel pain, <em>he thought._ We don't have much choice. _Little did Lisbon know that she was thinking the same thing as Jane. Damn, she didn't want to tell a kid that her parents were dead. That was enough of a gruesome job already when done to adults. The idea of doing it with children made her crumble inside.

The team met up again and questions began to flow, starting with Van Pelt's.

"How is she? Was she taken to a hospital already?"

"She's been through a lot…" Lisbon said.

"And we still have to find out the whole story…" Jane replied.

"Are we telling her that her parents are dead?" Rigsby asked, hesitantly.

"If she doesn't already know…" Jane replied. "She's the only one who can tell us. I'm going to see her reactions when it's a favorable time for talking to her."

"I bet she knows." Cho said, installing a deep silence between them all.

A few seconds later, Lisbon was the first to get out of her daydream. "Get ready guys, you'll be going to the CBI. Jane, you and I will go to the hospital and wait for the doctor's permission to see Nina; Van Pelt and Rigsby, I want you to find out any sort of enemies that Anthony or Judith might've had. Cho, look through their professions and files at work, if there's any. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Jane and Lisbon arrived at the hospital and went straight to the floor where Nina's room's was. The doctor was filling in some gaps in a paper, probably writing information about one of his patients.<p>

"Good morning sir, I'm Agent Lisbon and this is my consultant Patrick Jane. We're with the CBI and we'd like to talk to Nina Dobrev."

"Oh, sure! The little girl that just got here… Ahm, I'm afraid you two will have to wait while she regains some energy and I examine her. This may take a little while, so I'll have the nurse call you when she's ready to talk, alright?"

"Doctor…" Jane wanted to know his name.

"Adams. Doctor Adams."

"Okay, Doctor Adams, we'll be right over there, in the corridor." They smiled to each other and at the same time as the doctor went away, Jane glanced at Lisbon. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts. He couldn't help but worry about her too. She looked so… Tormented. "Alright, now, tell me what's going on."

"Sorry?" She looked at him with wandering eyes.

"You don't look normal." He opened the door for her.

"I'm just tired, Jane. I haven't slept in twenty-four hours. Besides, I hate those types of cases with a child. They're always sad and never end well."

"You should go home and rest. Don't you trust your team? Don't you trust me? We can take the work from here." _Twenty-four? Why the hell hasn't she slept in twenty-four hours if she had time to do so?_

"It's not that easy, Jane. I have to be here." If regrets could kill, she'd already be dead. Lisbon wished she had slept well instead of going after an unfulfilled desire with a one-night stand. _Damn it, Lisbon. That was totally irresponsible, _she said to herself. She should know better; in her job there was no time for that kind of fun. Except for once in a lifetime and she'd already spent her chance with Mashburn.

"Why? You have to sign papers? Talk to the suspects that we don't have yet? C'mon Lisbon…"

"I need to be here for Nina when she wakes up! I have some questions to ask her about earlier in the day and I need to give her the horrible news…"

"Well, I can do that. And don't tell me that I can't, because I've done that already."

"We've always done it together. I never let you go and visit the victim's family by yourself. That would be unprofessional."

"Unprofessional is you working this way!" He motioned to her.

"Which way, Jane? Huh?" She asked, her patience wearing thin as they sat in a chair. The corridor was empty and silent. The only sound, besides their voices, was the loud beeping that came from the machines in each one of the rooms. "I'm just tired, for God's sake! It's not like I've never worked like this before."

"You were with a one night stand, weren't you? I mean, I can tell by your relaxed look, in spite of our actual situation, and your irritation. Probably somebody took you away from your… fun."

"What if I was? Please, Jane, just let me be, okay? I had a rough night just like everyone else on the team. Just… gimme a break." His perceptiveness sometimes annoyed her.

"Fine, I'll shut up."

"Good." She curled herself into a ball, searching for the back of the chair for sleeping support, and closed her eyes. Jane just kept staring at the ceiling.

* * *

><p>"Agents?"<p>

Jane woke up suddenly with the doctor's voice. He didn't even remember falling asleep in the first place. Next to him, Lisbon slept like a baby. He didn't have the courage to wake her up, so he decided to talk to Nina by himself. "Erm… I think we should let her sleep." He smiled. "She's exhausted, worked a lot." Jane explained.

"That's fine, it's just that you told me to warn you as soon as the girl had woken up. And, she's waiting now. Be careful with her."

"You don't have to worry, doc." He got up and started to walk towards the girl's room. When he opened the door, scared and big green eyes stared at him. Nina shrank instinctively. "Calm down, baby. There's no need to be afraid. My name is Patrick Jane, what's yours?"

"N-Nina…" She answered, quietly and reluctantly.

"Hi, Nina." He opened a charming smile. "I'm with a sort of police, called CBI, ever heard of it?" She remained silent. He let out a breath. "I'm not going to hurt you," He sat on the edge of the bed and looked her deep in the eyes. "I promise."

"C-can you tell me why I'm here?" She was still on her defensive mode. That man was just a strange for her. And why wasn't she at home, where she was supposed to be? Tucked in bed, just waiting for her mom to wake her up for school… What happened? Where were her parents? Nina kept staring at Jane, waiting for him to answer all of her questions.

"You are at the Sacramento City's Hospital…"

"But why?" She cried out, interrupting him. "And where is my mommy? I wanna see her!"

_Yeah, she doesn't remember anything._ He finally could realize. "How old are you, Nina?"

"Four… But…"

"I'll be right back."

Outside of the room, Jane took a deep breath. This was going to be sad. And difficult. The girl had forgotten everything. She was probably blocking her traumatic feelings from that night. Jane had dealt with this kind of case before, but it was an older girl. Not this small. Not Charlotte's age. He ran through the corridor and shook Lisbon's shoulder. "Lisbon, wake up." She snapped her eyes wide open, trying to acknowledge her surroundings.

"Huh? What?"

"I thought that I could do it alone, but I can't." Lisbon looked confused. "Nina's awake, looking for her mother."

"Damn it, Jane!" She got up quickly and hurried back to Nina's room. "I told you I wanted for us to do it together! Did she forget everything?" She asked him, before turning the doorknob.

"Yes… At least from that night. And, she's four. Not six."

She sighed and opened the door. The same green eyes from before, met hers. Lisbon approached Nina carefully and also sat on the edge of the bed, but closer to the girl. "Hi, Nina. My name is Teresa Lisbon. How are you feeling?"

"I don't know… Weird, I guess." She shrugged.

"Think you can talk?" The child nodded. "Okay… Ahm, do you know why you're here? I mean, can you remember anything that happened yesterday?" Nina shook her head in denial and Lisbon looked quickly at Jane, who nodded to her. "Nina, you were found, by me and Mr. Jane, unconscious in the middle of the woods behind your house. I really need to know if there's something, anything, as small as it seems, that you recall from last night. It's quite important..."

The girl stopped a little to think and Lisbon and Jane could tell that she was really trying. "I… I just remember my mom and my dad screaming at each other again… And then, a loud noise. But I don't remember anything anymore." She looked first to Lisbon and then to Jane. Both had disapproving looks on their faces. She knew that they expected more, but something wasn't letting her inside her own mind. "But why? And he hasn't answered me about my mom yet! Where is she?"

"Nina, I'm really, really sorry but your mom and dad are not here anymore." Jane said, looking at the floor.

The girl looked at him with watery eyes. "What do you mean?" She knew what he meant; she just didn't want to believe it.

"They became angels. You know, God needed them upstairs…"

"No…" She moaned and tears began to stream down her face, on full force. "No, I don't want them to become angels!"

At first, they didn't know what to do. This wasn't one of the cases where both of the parents weren't present or egotistical; or a case with an older kid. They should've kept in mind that Nina was a very little girl. And by understanding that, Lisbon did the only possible thing that could be done to comfort her: she pulled Nina into a hug.

"Come here, honey." Nina couldn't keep control of her sobs. "I need you to be strong, okay? You are going to help me and my team in this case and we're all going to find the bad guy that took your parents away. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, alright? I'm not." She closed her eyes, while Nina cried her heart out, soaking her jacket in salty and hot tears. The woman broke the hug delicately and looked into Nina's eyes. "Do you trust me?" The girl wiped the tears with the back of her hands while Lisbon took a lock of Nina's hair and put it behind her ear. "Because I'll only be able to do all of that, if I have your trust. Like I said, you have to be strong in order for me, Mr. Jane and our friends to be strong. And I know that you're only four, but I also know that you are rather intelligent." She gave Nina an encouraging smile and stretched her hand towards the girl. "So Nina, can I count on you?"

The girl nodded shyly and put her hand on Lisbon's.

**AN: So, what did you think of it? Please tell me, I appreciate any kind of feedback!**


	3. Disappointment

**AN: Hi there! I know, I know. It's been a long time since I last updated this story. But I've been busy with university stuff and I've been in a very bad writer's block. The ideas would come to my mind but I just couldn't put them in the computer! Secondly, I was surprised to find out that there is an actress with exactly the same name I've chosen to my character Nina. I swear, I don't watch The Vampire Diaries. I was scrolling tumblr's dashboard and I saw her. It was kinda funny though. LOL **

**I wanna thank everyone who favorited, followed, reviewed and alerted this story. I need your feedback, guys. It's very important to me. And last, but not least, I wanna thank liv . einziger because she's much more than a wonderful beta, she's one of my best friends. Thank you Liv! Btw, you should try reading her stories, you won't regret it!**

**Disclaimer: Not my characters. I'm not even sure if I own Nina anymore. LOL**

CHAPTER 3 - Disappointment

Taking a look at the clock once in every five minutes wasn't a Teresa Lisbon characteristic. However, she didn't have anything else to do, and in most days she wouldn't be anxious about anything as she was to pick Nina from the hospital today. She had asked Van Pelt to try to locate the closest relative in Nina's family, so the girl wouldn't be in foster care. But, until that time, only a distant aunt was found. Lisbon had been pondering if they should call her anyway.

When the clock hit 4pm, Lisbon put her jacket on and got out of her office. Van Pelt immediately raised her hand.

"Boss!" She called. "Nobody else was found. It's like none of her parents had any siblings."

"Okay, so call that relative you found. I bet she'll be a bit surprised with a niece she didn't even know that existed, but if it's the best we can find, that'll have to do. "

"Meh, surprises can be good. And I bet she'll be even happy… She might live in an old house full of cats." Jane said from the couch, with eyes closed. "Not that there's anything wrong about living with cats…"

Lisbon sighed. "Cho and Rigsby, what've you guys found?"

"Anthony had been working on a case involving petroleum and very rich people. Apparently some important information leaked during the process…"

"There was a death threat on him." Cho dropped a file on the table. "Ravi Salazar: The big boss of the Palestine oil. Anthony's defense, against him on the court, was so good that got him a little angry."

"But he's not the only one." Rigsby continued. "Arieanna Lecter made several calls to the Dobrev's residence and I have the feeling that they weren't to talk about good things."

"So call those two people and bring them in. Maybe we won't be able to keep them but an interview won't hurt." She shrugged. "Let's have a little surprise ourselves." Lisbon smiled and made her way to the elevator. Jane raised his head to see which way she was going and got up to follow her.

"Wait!" She heard Jane's plead. "What about me?" He was coming on her direction and could see that she was thinking. "You are going to the hospital, right? Can I come with you? I'd really like to talk to Nina… See if I can get anything form her…"

"Actually, I'd like you to tidy up the attic. Otherwise, Nina won't have a comfortable place to stay here while waiting for her aunt."

"Oh, okay… Ahm…" The elevator arrived. "Nevermind." Lisbon looked at him with a curious face, but he would soon be with Nina, he could make his observations later.

"Okay… Bye. Oh, and Jane!" She held the door and pressed the elevator's button. "Help Rigsby and Cho with the interviews, if I'm not back in time." He nodded at her, while the door closed slowly.

* * *

><p>Nina stared at the door, waiting for someone to come. She'd been alone for a long time already as not even doctors were coming to pay her a visit. Because of that, she was extremely bored and sad. Her parents would always come to her mind, only to remember her that she would never be with them anymore. She remembered always hearing about a place called hell in the mass and wondered if she was in this place right now. Everything seemed to be gloomier than before. Her sense of loss was intense and pain washed over her, not only because of her parents, but also because she couldn't remember anything and she knew that there was something important.<p>

Instead, Nina remembered about times when she went to hospitals only to drink hot chocolate that came from a few machines and tried to remember if hospitals were always quiet and melancholic like this. She wondered when she would ever be able to think of hospitals as hot chocolate sellers again. But actually, she just wanted to get out. She had had enough of the depressive smell, blunt food and lack of colors. Maybe that was the main thing that made this place so sad. Everywhere she looked was white or gray and she craved for an ice cream.

The door suddenly opened, revealing Dr. Adams and his comforting smile for the first time that day. "Nina? Hi, glad you're awake! I have good news."

"Will I get outta here?" She asked, enthusiastically.

"Yes, you will." He opened the door wider, with a smile, revealing the agent.

"Hey Nina, are you ready?" Teresa entered the room and smiled encouragingly to the little girl.

"Yeah, sure!" She got out of the bed quickly and stood right beside the dark-haired woman, taking her hand. Lisbon frowned with the unexpected contact, but soon relaxed.

"Is it okay, can she really go?" Lisbon asked the doctor.

"Well, yeah. Her body's health is fine and I'm sure that she'll recover her full memory in no time. I'll just ask you to motivate her on this process, if you know what I mean." She nodded and he gave her a few papers inside of an envelope. "Here are her documents, analyses and prescriptions. Her clothes are on the chair, but I think that it'd be better if she could get new ones, or access to her own. I'm afraid that these are kind of ruined, even though our nurses tried to wash them twice."

"That won't be a problem doctor. Thank you." She took Nina in her arms and nodded to him.

"You're welcome agent Lisbon. Bye Nina!"

The girl waved back and started to observe everything as they walked through the corridor. Lisbon didn't know whether to start a conversation or not, as she wasn't very good at this. They proceeded to the parking lot and the agent fastened the seat belt around Nina. She wasn't very talkative. Even though her mood would suggest that, her everyday self was actually imaginative and a bit of an introverted instead of outgoing like most of the kids.

"Where are we going?" The girl asked, after Teresa started the car.

"To the CBI. But don't worry, we're gonna find you a place to stay." She glanced at Nina through the mirror. She looked concerned and seemed to be trying very hard not to cry. The sight made Lisbon's heart tight inside her chest. She knew what it was like to lose people you loved and she knew it wasn't good, not even a bit. The memories, the sadness, the loneliness… She could imagine what Nina was going through. "We won't pick anybody stranger though. Or, at least we'll try not to." She tried to comfort Nina, but the girl knew better.

She knew she didn't have any aunts or uncles. She knew her only grandfather lived miles across the country and she hadn't seen him for ages. She knew that anybody that this CBI would find would be completely strange to her. But she kept quiet for she also knew that this agent was only trying to comfort her and she was thankful for it. So "Okay" was all that she managed to say while she kept looking at the window.

* * *

><p>Aretha stormed into the bullpen, startling the three agents who worked silently. "I wanna talk to the girl who called me!"<p>

"And you are?" Cho asked, bluntly.

"Aretha. Someone called me saying that I should come and pick a child up."

The woman was loud. She didn't care much about her appearance or politeness. Aretha was wearing some old clothes, ripped a little in some places. She didn't seem to have a lot of money, but they assumed she could look after Nina if she tried, even though she didn't look like an ideal foster mother. The team exchanged looks and looked at Jane later. He was observing Aretha attentively, probably trying to read her.

"It was me." Van Pelt finally said, getting up and stretching her hand towards the woman. "I'm Agent Grace Van Pelt, pleased to meet you."

"Well I'm not." Van Pelt jerked and recoiled her hand. "There's a reason for me to have gone away from the Dobrev family and I don't want to take care of their little brat!"

They all stood in silence. Not only because Aretha was being extremely rude and disrespectful, but also because Lisbon had just entered the bullpen along with Nina, who had heard most of Aretha's speech.

"First of all, Ma'am, I'd like to warn you about your attitude towards a state agent. Secondly, I'm sure that Rigsby and Cho would love to hear your reasons, as the Dobrev family has just been murdered and you, like you said, might have your reason for doing such a thing." The agent felt Nina pressing her hands tightly. Jane felt the necessity to make his point, but waited for the woman to correspond to Lisbon's authority.

"You can't arrest me!" Aretha turned around to face Lisbon and spotted a little girl, with a frightened expression, in some baggy clothes. Jane could tell that Nina was feeling uncomfortable with the situation, and everyone else could say that too, if they were paying attention to her. Her skin was turning in an intense shade of red not in a cute, but in a worrisome way. He knew she'd been holding up for way too long. "Look, I know that life is not being good for that girl lately, but their death is none of my business. I had trouble with them and walked away, plain and simple. I have nothing to do with their deaths, just like I have nothing to do with this girl. I don't wanna take care of anybody's kid. I'm not a nanny, for God's sake!" She got closer to Nina and talked directly to her. Lisbon resisted the urge to push her away, but waited, still hoping for this situation to turn out good. "Girl, I gotta tell you, this life's not easy. Maybe it's time for you to learn…"

"That's it." Jane got up from his couch abruptly. "That's enough. Come with me Nina. This… Woman doesn't deserve you." He took the girl's little hand and nodded to Lisbon, who sadly nodded back. He wanted to take the kid to her former house, get a few clothes, toys and maybe even catch up with her memory.

He took her in his arms and she tightened her grip around his shoulders. He could just feel the wet tears rolling from her face to his suit. He knew she wanted to cry but was ashamed of doing in front of everyone, after all she had just witnessed a horrible thing: rejection. More than that, that rejection was based on nothing but selfishness.

Back to the bullpen, the team was still staring at Aretha, especially Lisbon, whose looks could kill if she wanted to. "Well, I'm sorry that we contacted you." Lisbon said gently, putting her hand on her front pockets, careful to cover all of her disgust.

"Excuse me?"

"We thought that you were going to be a nice person for Nina, and help her face this sad and difficult moment, I mean, based on our past experiences. We thought you'd be glad to know about this distant niece. But we were wrong. You're just plain selfish. I'm sorry that me and my team, and moreover Nina, had to go through this ridiculous disappointment." She stood in silence one more time, leaving Aretha speechless.

"This is the moment when you walk away." Cho clarified and the woman immediately got out, swearing and hissing to herself.

"That was close." Grace said, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah… But we must keep an eye on this one. After all, she did say that she had some reason to move away from the Dobrev's." Lisbon Said and looked around. "Does anybody know where Jane took Nina?"

"No, but any place was better than here." Rigsby sighed. "I was looking forward to meeting her though… She looks a lot like you, Lisbon."

She looked at him with a frowning expression. "Okay, I guess… Anyway, I guess we'll just have to trust Jane on this one."

"Yeah, like in every other one…" Grace muttered.

Lisbon walked towards Jane's couch and took his cellphone in her hands. "Weird," Cho noticed. "He never forgets anything."

"I don't quite think he forgot… We all know that Jane always has a plan…" Lisbon said.

"And never lets us in it." Rigsby finished, rolling his eyes.

**AN: please, please, please, let me get what I want this time... Just a little review... *-***


	4. Darkness

**AN: Hey! I wanna thank everyone who alerted, followed and favorited this story and CookiesForMe and Berkwood Court for their review. You don't know how much it means to me. I also wanna thank Liv Einziger for beta-ing this fic and for her support. *-***

**Disclaimer: If 'The Mentalist' was mine, the season 5 would've started a long time ago.**

CHAPTER 4 - Darkness

The team stood in silence for a while, until a naturally tanned, bearded man appeared in the doorway along with a guy who looked like a lawyer.

"Yes sir, may we help you?" Cho offered.

"Ravi Salazar." The guy stretched his right hand to greet Cho. "I was told to come here because of that Dobrev guy…"

"Right… Our boss is going to see you. She's in her office." Cho got up and guided them, knocking on the door. He knew that in cases like this, with those kinds of powerful people, the interrogation room was used only as a last resource. "Boss, Mr. Salazar is here."

She opened the door wider to greet the guests. "Good Afternoon, Mr. Salazar. I'm sorry we disturbed you, but it's an important matter." She motioned for them to get in and gave Cho a thankful nod. "You may have a seat." Lisbon closed the door and moved to her chair.

"Mr. Salazar…"

"Ravi, Ms. Lisbon. You can call me Ravi." He told her with a cynical smile.

"Alright… Ravi, as you know, Anthony Dobrev and his wife Judith were murdered in their own house, leaving a four-year-old child. Our records show that you had a sort of contact with him. Now, if I may ask, what was your relationship with Anthony Dobrev? Where did you know him from?" She looked at the lawyer, expecting him to do something, but he didn't.

"I didn't know this man in person. He was a lawyer for another firm, not mine."

"He was a lawyer for the competition, wasn't he?" Lisbon added.

"Yes. From a rival company in the oil market. But what does this have to do with their deaths?"

"This document shows that you've made several calls to the Dobrev's residence while this other shows a transcript, from another telephone conversation you had in your office, that tells us about a death threat you've made against him." She observed as Ravi shifted his weight on the chair and his face's expression went darker. "Now, you tell me: what does the fact that Anthony was a successful lawyer for a competitor has to do with his and his wife's deaths?"

"You don't have to answer that." His lawyer finally spoke and Ravi kept looking down.

"Is it true that you've threatened to kill Anthony if he didn't stop his defense? If he didn't stop doing his job?" Lisbon was starting to feel a little impatient. Ravi was looking at his lawyer from time to time, to see if he could answer her questions, and that was not okay. But she had a hunch that he was not the murderer. If he could only answer her questions, she could prove his, well, sort of, innocence to herself. "Where were you on the night of the murder, Mr. Salazar? On the 20th, from 11pm to 3am?"

"I was not in America." For this one he didn't wait for his lawyer to say anything. "I was in Dubai for a conference. Making new agreements and that sort of stuff. I can prove."

Lisbon was silent for a while. She could hold him for the death threat, but for what? He could prove that he wasn't the killer and she probably had greater fish to catch.

"Look, agent, I know that it is hard to believe that I'm not the killer due to the death threat. But it was only a way to scare him away, you know? So that he could leave my company progress in peace. I didn't want him dead, especially because I didn't know anything about his family. I just wanted him off my business."

His explanation sounded true to her even though she found it a bit harsh for Ravi to threat someone just to have his way. She decided to let him go; all in all, being so powerful, he could've hired someone to do the dirty job for him. Just because his hands weren't dirty, it didn't mean that he wasn't responsible. The team would keep an eye on him. "Okay, I guess you can go then." She said with a sigh, watching them standing up. "Thank you for coming and again, I'm sorry for having disturbed you." She greeted them both and watched them leave.

* * *

><p>He knew that she wanted to cry more. Looking at Nina's face through the rearview mirror, Jane could see her watery eyes reflecting the road.<p>

"Nina, there's nothing wrong about crying, you know. Even I cry sometimes." A tear rolled down her face, by the minute he said that, while she was still trying to keep herself together.

"Are we going home?" She recognized the way, wiping her face with the back of her little hands.

"Kind of." He shook his head to the side, reluctantly.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm taking you to see your house and get some useful stuff, not taking you to stay there." Jane looked at her again.

"Oh …" She was disappointed, he could tell. But there was something in the word 'house' that made her face hopeful and a bit lighter than before.

When Jane parked his car in front of her old house, Nina's eyes sparkled. She took off her seat belt and stormed out of the car. Jane smiled weakly to see her doing this. It meant that she was as strong as Lisbon when a tragedy happened to her. It seemed like Nina could be taken out of the depressive state easily, which was good. She would need that later, he thought.

"C'mon Patrick, hurry up!" She needed to be in a familiar place again. "Why is this yellow tape here?" She talked to herself.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Just feeling a little old here, girl. You should show some compassion!" She giggled. He wondered if Nina hadn't had any high expectations on finding everything like when her parents were alive, as if nothing had happened. "Hey, ahm…" He began, putting the key he took from Lisbon's desk in the lock. "Nina, don't expect to find everything as it was before. You know, your house's been closed for a couple of days…"

"I know, that's okay." He examined her again and had the feeling that she was too anxious to understand what he was trying to say. So, he just hoped for the best and opened the door.

Nina stepped in slowly, finding the house dirty, messy and dusty. She kept staring at the dark in the hallway, as Patrick came close to her. He observed her every move and emotion; watched carefully all sorts of feelings running through her face at the same time. What was once her bright fortress, clean and airy, was now taken by the shadows. The evil witch from the phone had won the battle and took her parents with her. She felt unprotected and alone. Not to mention lost, because she didn't remember the first thing about her parents' death.

"It's different." She gulped. "I don't like it so much. It's too dark." Her eyes still roamed around the room.

"Yes." He stood silently next to her. "But I don't think your room is. Wanna go see it?" The child nodded and took his hand, looking for comfort and guidance.

They climbed up the stairs and Jane waited for her to open the door, after all, it was her room. Her toys were exactly where she had left them, her window was open and her bed was untidy. The light of day was coming in, through the open window. Everything was just as in that tragic day.

"Darkness took over my room too…" She sighed and left her face fall in disappointment. Jane became a little more heartbroken every time she made her observations. He remembered the first time he went to his house after Red John's visit and realized the grief that this little girl should be dealing with. It was unfair. And it wasn't just about environment: her memory wouldn't come back because there should be something really painful in there and she was naturally blocking it, as a way to survive; in a messed up tentative to stay a little happier, or less sad, despite her whole situation.

"But, at least here, it is a little brighter than downstairs. And look, your toys were waiting for you to arrive." He smiled at her trying to cheer her up. "Come on, come on Nina. I can hear this… Barbie telling me that she missed you."

His plan was working; the girl was smiling and laughing at him. He wasn't sure if it was because she was finding him funny or because she was happy to see her toys.

"I thought that only I could hear them!"

"Nope, I can too. You know, I have special powers." He whispered to her, as she took the doll from his hands.

"Yeah, right." She giggled.

_She spoke just like Lisbon does._ Jane froze. Nina was way too much like the agent: The way she spoke; the introverted and conservative personality; the way she looked at things and her green eyes; her brunette, straight hair, curly at the end… She was like a mini-Lisbon and that amused Patrick.

"And this isn't Barbie, this is Snow White." She clarified. "I love her and my Ariel doll. They're my favorites."

"But what about your teddy here?" He pointed at a medium-sized brown bear, perfectly huggable.

"He is my best friend. He's not a toy."

"Really, what is his name?" Jane was enjoying this talk quite a lot. He could tell that it was distracting for Nina and he was also having fun.

"Didn't you say that you had special powers?" She grinned. "How come you didn't notice that Bear wasn't just a toy?"

"Touché!" He laughed and she followed. "So his name is Bear?"

"Yes… I like it." She said.

"It's a nice name."

They stood in silence for a while. Nina looked at the window and let her mind wander to that night. She had already remembered about jumping out of the window, running away from sharp noises and screams, but she couldn't tell Patrick yet. She didn't want to give him, or his friend Teresa, the false hope that her memory was coming back. It wasn't. She still wasn't able to remember everything that had happened and the strange and haunting feeling that she knew the murderer, wouldn't go away. But at the same time, she did say that she was willing to help them. "I think I saw his face." She said at last, turning to face Patrick and he immediately paid attention. "I have this… Thing inside my stomach, it won't go away!" She spoke, her green eyes filled with desperation.

Jane let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "You have a bad feeling?"

She nodded sadly. "Everything I look around here reminds me of loud noises and I feel butterflies, a whole bunch of them."

"Do you remember the face you said you saw? Do you remember how your pajamas got covered in blood?" He wished he could take back this question.

Nina shook her head negatively and started to cry, stronger than before. Jane pulled her into an embrace, slowly caressing her head. "Shh, it's okay Nina, it's okay." But he knew it wasn't. Nothing would ever make her life okay again and he was deeply sorry. He was not comfortable with this situation; he just knew how to pretend. He was actually rather reluctant: The team hadn't been able to find Nina a new house; she was Charlotte's age and reminded him, unwillingly, of his own tragedy. He knew how to act with kids, but he felt uneasy with the ones that were victims of something as brutal as this. Her sobs calmed down, little by little, and she took her arms away from Patrick's neck.

"Can I sleep a little in my bed?" She asked him shyly.

"Why, sure. It's your bed, who am I to forbid anything?" He said, wiping the tears from her eyes. She smiled a little, in gratitude. "Aha, I see a smile there." He tried making fun of her, so that her smile could grow a little bigger.

Nina took off her shoes and tucked herself under her blanket. Jane stood up and straightened it for her to feel more comfortable, putting Bear next to her. "Daddy used to do this." She had her eyes shut and Jane just smiled at the comment.

He waited for her to fall asleep and went downstairs. At first, it was only to find a bag to put some of Nina's clothes inside, but then, he wondered if he could take a look around the house.

* * *

><p>The team saw Ravi walking away freely, discussing some company issue with his lawyer. He didn't seem to hold in any sort of guilt.<p>

"So it wasn't him." Van Pelt questioned Lisbon as she walked into the bullpen.

"I honestly don't know." She sat on Jane's couch. "But I don't think so. He said he could prove his alibi and also that the threat was only part of the 'fun'. He was just trying to scare Anthony away from his business."

"Death threat used to entertain? What sort of sick mind works that way?" Rigsby spoke. "what was his alibi?"

"He wasn't in the US." Lisbon said. "Look, I'm not saying he's not guilty. He is a self-centered sadistic and he could have easily paid someone to do the dirty job for him. I'm just saying that we should check his alibi and keep an eye on him. As a matter of fact, Van Pelt, I want you to check if the 'Clean Oil Company' had had any meetings or conferences in Dubai the past few days."

"Okay." The red-haired agent turned to the computer and started doing what she knew best.

"So we already have two non-potential suspects, right?" Cho asked ironically. This case was leading them nowhere until now.

"That's right. We'll keep digging guys, sometime we'll have to find something."_ I promised Nina I'd find the killer. We need to find something… _Lisbon got up and went to the suspect board. They had Aretha, Ravi and the other woman. "What about her?" She said, pointing at the name on the board. "Arieanna. Have you tried calling her?"

"Yes, but her agenda was full for the week, she said." Lisbon gave Rigsby a discontent yet surprised look. "So we had to schedule an interview for next week." He shrugged.

"Did you tell her that it was a murder investigation and that we could bring her here, on force, if we wanted to?" The senior agent's eyebrows were lifted in disbelief. She imagined this Arieanna to be one of those obnoxious socialites who had more money than they deserved.

"Yes, I told her. She claimed innocence and told us we had no reason to worry."

"Pff. Yeah, right. If she was really innocent, her number wouldn't be recorded several times on a dead guy's phone." She hissed.

The sound of a knock on the bullpen's entrance stopped their discussion. Wainwright was there, probably to know about the progress on the case.

"Agent Lisbon." He nodded.

"Sir." Lisbon made a small reverence with her head.

"Agents" Each one of them waved at their boss with a weak smile. "So, how's the investigation?"

"We had no signs of a murder weapon or even fingerprints, which makes us think that it was either a passionate crime or a planned one." Rigsby explained.

"Or both." Van Pelt added.

"We have three concrete suspects, yet none of them are potential. One of them presented a solid alibi, while the other one we weren't able to reach yet." Lisbon said.

"And the third?"

"Left before we had a chance of a proper interview." She looked away in shame.

"What about the kid, does she know anything, did she see anything?" Wainwright was starting to get impatient, nobody could blame him though.

"As far as I know, she remembers nothing from that night. We tried to find her a new family, but the only relative Van Pelt found declared that she didn't want kids."

"Where is this girl now?"

"Jane took her somewhere outta here, so she wouldn't have to listen to that woman's bullshit" Cho said.

"A little frustrating this case, huh? A lot of dead ends…"

Nobody said anything, but deep down everyone agreed.

"Okay, good." He sighed. "I trust you to keep this case going. Just try to find this little girl a new home, alright? Do what you can."

"Yes, sir. Don't worry." Lisbon assured him and waited for him to leave so she could leave right after. _Where the hell is Jane?_ Was the question haunting her head at the moment.

* * *

><p>By the minute he heard Nina's breathing becoming uniform and slow, Jane climbed down the stairs with a specific purpose in mind: to find some pictures that could connect Anthony with anyone who could've killed him. The team wanted to believe that it was some rich, high-profile sort of guy who had done it. Of course, it was the most obvious alternative, but Jane was looking at the bigger picture. If it was someone random and unknown for Nina, she wouldn't be in such a traumatic block. This murderer had to be someone she knew.<p>

Besides the pictures displayed in the portraits: Anthony and Judith getting married; Judith pregnant; Nina as a newborn; Two-year-old Nina standing by herself; the whole family together; etc. All he could find were pictures of Anthony with his colleagues from work. There were no pictures of grandparents in the hall or in the living room and that disturbed him a little. Jane thought about every family he had already visited during his time in CBI. All of them had pictures of the whole family, ancestors, great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles… And most of those pictures were hanging on the walls, like trophies. Why the Dobrev's would be different? He then decided to try Anthony's and Judith's room.

He was climbing the stairs when he heard a sharp gasp and low sobs. Nina had woken up.

Jane opened the door to her room and found the girl in a quiet cry, holding her knees to her chest, looking at him with red eyes. "I think I remember." She let out in a sob. He got near her, passed an arm under her knees and the other under her arms, holding her to himself as he sat on the bed. He used to do this with Charlotte whenever she had nightmares. He had to sleep in her room to make her feel safe and she would hold his hand until she fell asleep again. The team had had a lot of child cases, or cases with people who had children, but he never got the opportunity to get this close to any of them.

"Don't worry kid." He whispered, trying to soothe her.

"I had a nightmare and I remembered everything."

"Do you know who did it?" He looked at her.

"No…" She cried harder. This was the most important detail and she couldn't get to it. She wasn't crying because of fear or pain. She was angry at herself. "I couldn't see his face. I tried and I tried, but I couldn't!"

"Shh, that's okay. It's good that you're getting your memory back. Little by little you'll make it. There's no need to be angry, okay?" They exchanged looks and he wiped her tears. "Do you wanna tell me what happened that night?" She nodded.

"Daddy had put me in bed and everything was normal. Mommy and daddy started to fight, but that's normal too. It was just when they went to sleep that I heard the door slamming downstairs, hitting the wall. Mom started to scream and I could see that dad ran to the stairs."

"You were awake."

"Yes. They leave the door a bit open, because I don't really like the dark, but I only go to sleep when they do because of the noise. And I got up to see what was happening and when I saw daddy on the floor I ran to him…" Nina started sobbing again and Jane tightened up his embrace. "And I hugged him very tight. And I shook him too, because I wanted him to wake up, but it wasn't working! And the bad man was coming from the kitchen, so I let go and ran to my room."

"But he followed." She agreed with him, sadly. "That's why you jumped out the window." She agreed once more.


End file.
